A Change Too Late?
by QueenOfTheMountain
Summary: It’s Lily and James’ seventh year at Hogwarts. Lily is infuriated that James has been chosen as Head Boy but could this new responsibility have sparked a change in James? And could a simple choice ruin everything between them before it’s even begun?
1. No Fear Evans

Author's Note: Hello everybody! This is my first fanfic and I'm very excited to finally post it! I really hope you like it and without further adoo, Read On!

Chapter 1 "No Fear Evans"

The train whistle sounded as Lily Evans hugged her parents goodbye. "Goodbye Mum, goodbye Dad. Take care." she said as she embraced them. She glanced at the surly figure beside her parents. "Bye Petunia," she said, trying to keep the scorn out of her voice. Petunia just glared at Lily and mouthed the word "freak" at her sister, though, no stranger would have guessed their relation. Petunia, who stood at about 5'5", had chin-length mousy brown hair and a nose that reigned supreme over her pinched face. Her brown, squinty eyes darted back and forth as she scanned Lily's fellow students with pure disgust. Lily, on the other hand, was 5'8" and had long, wavy, red hair that no one could miss, and a delicate, Grecian nose with exactly three freckles. Lily's most striking feature though, was her eyes. They were almond shaped, peridot green with flecks of emerald and they could show her emotions without the rest of her face moving a muscle. Her eyes also displayed an unwavering amount of kindness to anyone she met.  
Lily rolled her eyes at her sister, hugged her parents once more, then ran off to find her friends.

At the same station, a few meters down, James Potter was having a similar farewell with his parents, minus the evil sister lurking in the background.

"Yes Mum I've got all my books," said James impatiently, "And yes I'll owl you once a week."

"I'll miss you Jamesie," said his mum, embracing her son in a hug.

"Mum for God's sake it's my seventh year at Hogwarts." James said from in embarrassment as he tried to pry himself from his mother's Kung-Fu grip. He succeeded, finally.

"I wish you'd let me cut your hair before school," chided his mother, trying in vain to smooth down the hair that wouldn't be, "It looks so untidy." "Whatever Mum," James said absently, his hand automatically jumping up to re-mess his jet black hair. He spied his two best friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin standing by their trunks with amused expressions on their faces. "I've got to go. I'll owl you later." He hugged her again and shook hands with his dad and made his way over to his smirking friends.

On the train, Lily met up with her two best friends Julia and Felicity. The three had been best fiends since their first year but were all so different. Felicity, the prettiest and most easygoing of the three, had long chestnut hair and pool blue eyes. She was also the smartest witch in the year and was a little shy. Julia was exactly the opposite. She possessed a mass of blonde curls that were never in the same place twice and had striking violet eyes. What made her stand out though, was her outgoing personality.

"Hey girl!" Julia cried, "How was your summer?" Though Julia stood only at 5'3", what she lacked in size, she made up for in energy, enthusiasm, and, most of all, loudness.

"Fair," Lily smiled at her friend as they made their way into an empty compartment, "I couldn't threaten Petunia anymore because she found out I'm not allowed to use magic. But I made up for it when I put the newts in her purse. How about you guys?"

"Same old, same old," said Felicity, the quietest of the three, "I baby-sat my sisters most of the summer. Congratulations on getting Hear Girl Lil-"

"I had an absolutely marvelous time girls," cut in Julia, "My parents and I went to Ireland for a month. I met the most fabulous guy-he was absolutely gorgeous. Though," she added, "He still wasn't as good-looking as Sirius Black."

"I quite agree with you m'lady," came a voice from behind them. Lily and her friends turned to see the Marauders: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. "I don't know the bloke myself," continued Sirius, a large grin on his face, "But I could hardly imagine anyone better looking than yours truly." He plunked down between Julia and Felicity, putting and are around each.

There was definitely some truth to what Sirius said. At 6'2" he was tall, dark, and handsome, and easily the best looking guy at Hogwarts. He was know for being a heartbreaker and not taking any relationship too seriously.

But Lily wasn't paying attention to Sirius. She was staring at James, her mouth open in disbelief. The shiny, gold badge with the letter HB winked back at her in the sunlight.  
James noticed Lily looking at him and his heart jumped two feet as it always did when he was around her. But, as usual, he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Admiring the badge Evans?" he said loftily.

Recovering from her shock just in time, she retorted, "Not really, seeing as I've got one of my own Potter." she tacked the last word on scathingly.

James' face fell. He had blown it once again. You git he cursed himself. Can't you open your mouth without sounding like an idiot around Lily?

"Yes we're very proud of our little James." said Sirius with a mock sniffle, "He's growing up so fast." He dabbed at his eyes with his robe until Julia wacked him on the head. "Ow!" he said, "Really, that girl ought to be locked up before she hurts somebody." This wasn't the first then Sirius had been on the receiving end of one of Julia's blows.

"How was your girls' summer?" put in Remus conversationally, always the peacemaker.

Lily smiled at him. Remus was by far her favourite Marauder. He was always so gentlemanly and polite. She had always secretly hoped that he and Felicity would go out. She made a mental note to talk to Felicity and Julia later. "It was fine Remus," she said,

"How was yours Felicity?" Remus asked

"It was good," Felicity said shyly, "But I'm glad to be going back to Hogwarts."

"Yes well I had a simply lovely summer too, thank-you for asking!" Sirius put in cheerfully, "Now if you young ladies will excuse us, we have a snack cart to raid." He got up and exited the compartment with his friends in tow.

"Potter," called Lily in as civilized a tone as she could, "We have a meeting with the prefects at 2:30. Don't forget," she added menacingly.

James stuck his head around the door of the compartment, "No fear Evans," he said, "Dumbledore didn't make me Head Boy just because of my good looks." He winked, then ran off to join the Marauders on what was to be their first, of many, escapades that year.


	2. I Think I'd Like That

Author's Note: Hello everybody! Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day! I would like to dedicate this chapter to...

**LuvHarryPotter712! **Thank you so much for your sweet review! I'm really, really sorry about the typos!

Anyway...here's Chapter 2!

Chapter 2- "I Think I'd Like That"

Lily sat, fuming, in the compartment as Julia and Felicity watched her warily. Lily was often cool-headed, but when James was around, her red-head temper kicked in with such force that it was frightening.

"How could Dumbledore make that conceited git Head Boy?" she cried furiously, "He wasn't even a prefect for god's sake!"

"Calm down Lil," Felicity said gently, "It can't be that bad."

"That bad? That bad!" Lily shrieked, "James Potter is the person I hate most in the entire world. He never takes anything seriously, he'll spend more time breaking the rules than enforcing them, and he has the biggest ego in England! How can you tell me to calm down at a time like this?"

"Maybe it won't be as bad as all that," Julia said, "This could be a great opportunity to really get to know James. He might have a whole new side to him." Both Julia and Felicity knew how much James liked Lily and that they were meant for each other. That summer they had decided that this would be that year that Lily and James would finally get together. The two were set to do anything it would take to get Lily and James together at last.

"Whatever," said Lily skeptically, "Let's change the subject," she brightened, "to how much Felicity and Remus should go out!" Felicity blushed scarlet as Lily and Julia named all the reasons Remus and Felicity were meant for each other, and the compartment became peaceful once more.

At the other end of the train, the Marauders were enjoying their chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and other assorted candy items they had nicked from the snack trolley.

"Did you see Lily's face when she saw your badge?" Sirius laughed, "She looked like she'd just eaten an earwax flavoured bean!"

"She shouldn't be _so_ surprised," Remus said, "James is one of the best students in the year."

"Yeah, but all the stuff we've pulled over the years," Sirius said, "We've spent more time in detention than out of it!"

"About that," said James, "This year's going to be different. The look Lily gave me made me feel like I'm an imposter. I have to show her that I can take things seriously. I want things to be different with her this year."

The Marauders were all silent for a minute. They all knew how much Lily meant to James and they could see how serious he really was.

"Don't worry Prongs," said Sirius with a grin, "We'll all help you become less conceited, show offish, arrogant, cocky, egoistical, pigheaded, trouble making, slackish..."

"Alright, shut-up!" laughed James as he threw a pumpkin pasty at his best friend. Sirius, being the star beater of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, used his wand as a bat to hit the pasty back, sending bits of pumpkin everywhere.

"Speaking of not slacking off," said Remus, interrupting the food fight, "Might I remind you that you have a meeting Lily and all the prefects in exactly three minutes."

"Shit," said James, "Thanks Mooney. I'll meet up with you later mates." And he rushed down the corridor and out of sight.

When Lily entered the prefect's compartment, she was surprised to see James already there.

"Hello Potter," she said stiffly, unable to bring herself to use his first name.

James took a breath. This was it. His one chance.

"Lily," he replied with a nod and a smile.

Lily was taken aback. Why was James so polite all of a sudden? And his smile was different too. Not overconfident just... friendly. She shook her head to clear her bizarre thoughts.

"Good afternoon everyone," she said authoritivley to the prefects gathered before her, "My name is Lily Evans and I am Head Girl at Hogwarts this year."

"And I'm James Potter and I'm Head Boy," said James, matching Lily's tone.

"You're the seeker for the Gruyffindor Quidditch team," one prefect blurted.

"Umm...yes..." said James uneasily with a glace at Lily, "But could..."

"You made that fabulous catch in the final last year and you used that great move," interrupted the same prefect, "The..."

"The Wronski Feint," interjected another.

"It was bloody brilliant!" piped up someone else.

"Look," said James sharply, "Let's stay on subject. We're not here to talk about Quidditch, we're here to discuss your duties as prefects."

Again Lily was taken aback. Since when did James Potter not take time to gloat over his many Quidditch victories? Could he really have...? Snap out of it Lily she told herself firmly. This is Potter you're talking about. He'll always be the same arrogant show-off he always was no matter what. She gathered her thoughts and spoke to the now subdued prefects in front of her.

"Your main duty as prefects will be to maintain discipline amongst your peers. However, you may not take house points."

"Also," James said, "Today and the first week especially, you must assist any first years in finding their way about Hogwarts and help them to get used to their surroundings. After tonight's opening feast, you are to escort the first years to your respective common rooms. I believe that Lily has the passwords?"

The rest of the meeting went smoothly. Lily was shocked at how polite and business-like James was being. When the meeting was over, Lily turned to leave but James caught her arm, "Could I talk to you for a minute Lily?"

"Umm...okay," Lily said warily.

James led her into an empty compartment. "Look Lily," he began,"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier and these past years. I've been an arrogant self-centered little berk and I know it. I know I've messed things up between us but can we start over?"

Lily was struck speechless. Of all the strange things that had happened today, this was by far the strangest. Finally she spoke, "I...I think I'd like that...James." she said. It was the first time that she'd ever called him by his first name before and the word sounded foreign on her tongue, "I think I'd like that."

As Lily walked back to her compartment, she was in a daze. She couldn't believe what had just happened. A voice behind her interrupted her thoughts.

"Hi Lily."

She turned to see Amos Diggory standing behind her,"Oh hi Amos," she said smiling, "You startled me."

"My apologies," said Amos smiling back. Amos was one of the best looking guys at Hogwarts and the pride of his house, Hufflepuff. He was tall, had sandy blonde hair, and crystal blue eyes and Lily had always had a secret crush on him, "How was your summer?" Amos asked.

"It was fine," Lily answered, blushing, "Yours?"

"Very nice," replied Amos, "I just thought I'd congratulate you on becoming Head Girl."

Lily blushed redder, "Thanks."

"Well, I hope to see you around." said Amos.

"Yes, me too." said Lily.

Back in his compartment, James was on Cloud Nine.

"So," pressed Remus, "How'd it go?"

"Yeah," said Sirius, "Did you let your big mouth screw it up?"

"Shut-up," said James, "I just tried to be professional and at the end of the meeting I apologized to her for being such a git and..." he trailed off, deciding not to share how thrilled he'd been when she'd said his name.

"And..." Sirius urged, "She didn't slap you or hex you or anything?"

"No," said James dreamily.

"So what's next?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, are you finally going to ask her out?" asked Sirius.

"I don't want to rush it mate," James said, "It's taken seven years for Lily to even speak to me as a person. I don't want to mess things up with her. But," he added happily, "I think this year is off to a good start."

When Lily got back to her compartment, her friends were waiting for her expectantly. Their tense faces relaxed when they saw that Lily wasn't angry.

"So," said Julia still a little warily, "How was your meeting?"

"It was good actually," said Lily surprisedly, "You know, James Potter isn't that bad when he's serious."

"Ah-Ha!" cried Julia triumphantly, "Was I right or was I right?"

"That's not the most shocking thing though," said Lily still in disbelief herself, "James apologized. I didn't think the word "apologize" was in his vocabulary!"

"So do you really think he's changed?" asked Felicity, asking the same question Lily had been asking herself all day.

Lily paused for a minute and recalling James' sincere tone answered, "Yes, I really think he has."

Author's Note: There it is! Chapter 2. I hope you guys liked it and please review! It means so much to me to see your comments and what you think of my story! Remember the three R's: 'rite, read, and **REVIEW!**(yes I know that "write" doesn't start with a r but neither does 'rithmatic!)


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